WoodyUpstate
06-26-02, 07:48 AM
Reuters news just reported that Mapei will discontinue its support of its professional cycling team. Continued doping scandals was given as the main reason.
Road Cycling - Mapei Bails Out
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RiPHRaPH
06-26-02, 07:59 AM
that sucks. i have some of their colors (socks, etc) pretty nice color scheme.
racing is going down a dangerous path. how is it that baseball couldn't care less and biking goes to such extremes to test?
racing is going down a dangerous path. how is it that baseball couldn't care less and biking goes to such extremes to test?
aerobat
06-26-02, 08:04 AM
I had to happen sooner or later. I hope no more sponsors pull out, and everyone cleans up their act before the whole sport falls apart.
roadbuzz
06-26-02, 10:51 AM
Originally posted by RiPHRaPH
i have some of their colors (socks, etc) pretty nice color scheme.
Yeah, I thought Mapei had the best "look" of any of the teams out there.
You have to give any sponsor credit for hanging in there in the presence of the repeated and ongoing highly publicized scandals. Especially when it directly impacts their teams chances, and the public perception of their company.
It would just be so much easier to take the low road (a la most other professional sports) when it comes to the whole performance enhancing drugs issue. Hopefully, the mess can be cleaned up before it comes to that.
i have some of their colors (socks, etc) pretty nice color scheme.
Yeah, I thought Mapei had the best "look" of any of the teams out there.
You have to give any sponsor credit for hanging in there in the presence of the repeated and ongoing highly publicized scandals. Especially when it directly impacts their teams chances, and the public perception of their company.
It would just be so much easier to take the low road (a la most other professional sports) when it comes to the whole performance enhancing drugs issue. Hopefully, the mess can be cleaned up before it comes to that.
velocipedio
06-26-02, 12:48 PM
The drug situation is an excuse for and not a cause of Mapei's decision to withdraw its sponsorship. For the last couple of years, the sponsor has been complaining that the team, though strong in the classics, has very little profile in any of the big tours. [This is actually quite well documented.] With Garzelli's ejection from the Giro, the team didin't get much [positive] exposure in that tour, and the sponsor knows that it won't get any exposure worth mentioning in the Tour de Lance.
If the drug issue had been a major problem for Mapei, and a motivation for withdrawing sponsorship, they wouldn't have waited until today. If anything, the Garzelli case is a strange one to to justify this kind of decision [it's very vague and equivocal] and the doping situation in cycling is, according to everyone from Hein Verbruggen to the IOC, improving substantially.
Look at what;s happening to the long-time or high-profile sponsors of procycling: Festina withdrew last year [if it was drugs, they would have withdrawn sponsorship in 1999], so did Liquigas and Poste Suisse. Mobilvetta, Vini Caldirola and Cantina Tollo became secondary sponsors. Bonjour will withdraw at the end of this year, and Jean Delatour and Big Mat are rumoured to be planning the same thing. Domo and Lotto are discussing a merger [Lotto-Domo] rather than sponsor two separate teams.
The crisis isn't drugs -- except in the case of Liquigas, but I think that's pretext again. The crisis is economic. It is becoming difficult, particularly for sponsors of French teams to justify the expense of keeping a team going if there's no marketing return. With Lance Armstrong's domination of the Tour de France -- the biggest show in cycling -- likely to continue for two more years, sponsors are having a hard time getting excited about a sport where they get no exposure.
Incidentally, a similar contraction in sponsorhip and teams occurred during the 1990s, in the Indurain era, and in the 1970s, when Merckx was so dominant. Cycling gets boring and sponsors look for other ways to spend their money.
If the drug issue had been a major problem for Mapei, and a motivation for withdrawing sponsorship, they wouldn't have waited until today. If anything, the Garzelli case is a strange one to to justify this kind of decision [it's very vague and equivocal] and the doping situation in cycling is, according to everyone from Hein Verbruggen to the IOC, improving substantially.
Look at what;s happening to the long-time or high-profile sponsors of procycling: Festina withdrew last year [if it was drugs, they would have withdrawn sponsorship in 1999], so did Liquigas and Poste Suisse. Mobilvetta, Vini Caldirola and Cantina Tollo became secondary sponsors. Bonjour will withdraw at the end of this year, and Jean Delatour and Big Mat are rumoured to be planning the same thing. Domo and Lotto are discussing a merger [Lotto-Domo] rather than sponsor two separate teams.
The crisis isn't drugs -- except in the case of Liquigas, but I think that's pretext again. The crisis is economic. It is becoming difficult, particularly for sponsors of French teams to justify the expense of keeping a team going if there's no marketing return. With Lance Armstrong's domination of the Tour de France -- the biggest show in cycling -- likely to continue for two more years, sponsors are having a hard time getting excited about a sport where they get no exposure.
Incidentally, a similar contraction in sponsorhip and teams occurred during the 1990s, in the Indurain era, and in the 1970s, when Merckx was so dominant. Cycling gets boring and sponsors look for other ways to spend their money.
WoodyUpstate
06-26-02, 01:10 PM
Originally posted by velocipedio
The drug situation is an excuse for and not a cause. . .
The crisis isn't drugs . . . The crisis is economic. It is becoming difficult, particularly for sponsors of French teams to justify the expense of keeping a team going if there's no marketing return.
Sponsorship is advertising, and companies rightfully expect to see a return on their advertising dollar in the form of increased sales and/or market share.
The economy in the US is floundering around, and I expect the european economy could be better, too. When an economy is heading for, or in, a recession, the first expense that companies cut is advertising. This includes television, print and even sporting sponsorships.
Mapei may be using doping as an excuse, but the fundamental reason for their abandonment of cycling must be economic. I would love to see their financial statements for the last couple of years.
The drug situation is an excuse for and not a cause. . .
The crisis isn't drugs . . . The crisis is economic. It is becoming difficult, particularly for sponsors of French teams to justify the expense of keeping a team going if there's no marketing return.
Sponsorship is advertising, and companies rightfully expect to see a return on their advertising dollar in the form of increased sales and/or market share.
The economy in the US is floundering around, and I expect the european economy could be better, too. When an economy is heading for, or in, a recession, the first expense that companies cut is advertising. This includes television, print and even sporting sponsorships.
Mapei may be using doping as an excuse, but the fundamental reason for their abandonment of cycling must be economic. I would love to see their financial statements for the last couple of years.
roadbuzz
06-26-02, 07:37 PM
Originally posted by velocipedio
The drug situation is an excuse for and not a cause of Mapei's decision to withdraw its sponsorship
Why would they need an excuse? If they aren't getting adequate return on their advertising investment, why would they stay? But it's worst than that. In essence, the sponsorship money that paid for Team Mapei to prepare and participate in the Giro was spent on bad publicity. If it were my money, and I had to justify the investment to employees and stockholders, I couldn't imagine doing anything different.
The drug situation is an excuse for and not a cause of Mapei's decision to withdraw its sponsorship
Why would they need an excuse? If they aren't getting adequate return on their advertising investment, why would they stay? But it's worst than that. In essence, the sponsorship money that paid for Team Mapei to prepare and participate in the Giro was spent on bad publicity. If it were my money, and I had to justify the investment to employees and stockholders, I couldn't imagine doing anything different.
velocipedio
06-26-02, 08:56 PM
It is worth noting, of course, that Mapei [the sponsor] has been saying for two years that they would withdraw sponsorship if the team didn't get any grand tour results.
Why do they need an excuse? It's marketing. It makes the company look like it's motivated by the best interests of sport, rather than looking like it can't afford to continue sponsoring the team. Can anyone say Kelme?
Why do they need an excuse? It's marketing. It makes the company look like it's motivated by the best interests of sport, rather than looking like it can't afford to continue sponsoring the team. Can anyone say Kelme?